5G is more than a set of standards for next-generation wireless networking. Rather, 5G includes aspects of wireless and wireline network integration. One key aspect of 5G is network slicing which allows operators to split a single physical network into multiple virtual networks. Thus, operators deploy one single physical infrastructure and partition networks virtually using network slicing. Network slicing technology enables operators to provide networks on an as-a-service basis, which enhances operational efficiency while reducing time-to-market for new services. A network slice could span across multiple parts of the network (e.g., terminal, access network, core network, and transport network) and could also be deployed across multiple operators. A network slice includes dedicated and/or shared resources, e.g., in terms of processing power, storage, and bandwidth and has isolation from the other network slices. Slice types could be defined from a functional, operational, or behavioral perspective.
With the concept of network slicing, there is a requirement to address slice requests that address the problem using a vendor-neutral protocol, address the issue of time-boxed slice reservations, or allow a multiplicity of reservation servers to enable greater scalability and performance. The conventional approaches use calendaring based future reservations and/or vendor specific Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that clients would have to (potentially) license. Disadvantageously, these conventional approaches require vendor lock-in for a client API and back-end server, do not address slice time boxing and expiration, increase operational complexity, depend on pre-defined network slices, etc.